‘TEDxYouth’ boost for English proficiency
KOTA KINABALU: Students of SMK Sungai Damit were given the unique opportunity to participate in their very own TEDxYouth programme, sharing personal accounts in hopes of empowering and inspiring their peers.
The one-day programme aimed at exposing students to the art of public speaking, especially in English, saw the participants speaking on topics such as Standing Up to Bullies, Fear of Failure and Courage to Speak.
Nurul Izzati Andau was glad to have been given the opportunity to speak out against bullying in her presentation, revealing that she had been a victim of it herself.
“Because I’ve been bullied before;, I want to be the one standing up onstage telling people that they have no right to bully others.
“This TEDxYouth programme has also empowered me to stand up for others because I believe we all have our own selves,” she said.
Although Izzati is still tormented from time to time, she said it is not as bad as it was before as she had now learned to stand up for herself and seek help when necessary, instead of bearing the burden on her own.
Speaking on Fear of Failure, Mohammad Haqim Roslan shared his schoolmate’s sentiment and agreed the programme gave him confidence to speak in front of a crowd.
“Failure is natural, but we have to face it even though we try to avoid it. I’m grateful this programme gave me the experience and confidence to talk to a lot of people.”
The Form Three student also urged his peers and anyone with stage fright to face their fear of public speaking and try it, “even though you’re not fluent in English.”
On the contrary, Nurain Jafri was eager to take to the stage and share her passion of speaking with audience.
“I love communicating with people and speaking to an audience, so this is a great place for me to exercise my passion, while also telling and encouraging people to be more outspoken,” she said.
At 17, Nurain had already gained experience as a national weather news reporter and joined many public speaking competitions at both the State and national level.
With her passion for speech, Nurain encouraged students to face their fears and overcome them.
“Not all of us have the courage to speak in public, but we have to face our fears, otherwise we cannot become who we really are,” she said.
SMK Sungai Damit principal Sharina Mohd Majimin was impressed with the potential displayed by her students, saying she was pleasantly surprised by their presentations.
“I didn’t expect the students to come up with such good speeches. Most of them are definitely very talented,” she said.
Sharina also expressed hope such a programme would be held regularly to train students and expose them from a young age.
“We will try to come up with the same concept to do in school. What’s important is that we get students to talk about what they believe is right,” she said.
The programme, which was put together by English Teaching Assistant Caroline Miranda, was aimed at enhancing spoken English and confidence to speak among students.
Caroline, who hails from the United States, said it is important to allow students to speak about their passions and show them they have a voice not only for their peers to listen to, but adults as well.
In addition to the students who presented, TEDxYouth @ SMK Sungai Damit also featured invited speakers Azizi Mumwi, Ashira Pelt, Jasmine Rajah and Brian Lariche.
They each spoke on topics titled Drive, An American Muslim, Giving Awesome Presentations and Brand Yourself, respectively.